The present invention is directed to a portable easy lifting, personal device that can be particularly useful for the elderly or physically challenged individual. The prior art, as exemplified by several commercial products, offer expensive alternatives to the user, where one device, for instance, tilts the seat forward allowing the user to shift his/her weight and thereby better position one's legs to facilitate standing. However, such a device is expensive as it is part of a formal chair, and is not readily transferable to another chair, nor can it be transported and used with a variety of chairs or sofas, or other articles of furniture. Sofas or overstuffed chairs can be particularly challenging. While the cushioned seat is considerably more comfortable to the user, it has the drawback in that the user's weight is shifted rearward making it more difficult to quickly or conveniently exit the seat.
The prior art, as reflected in the following U.S. patents, offer specific aids to selected users:
a.) U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,851, to Costello, relates to a lifting, standing and walking device employing base side members whose rear track width is adjustable to facilitate use of the device to lift severely disabled, elderly or other physically challenged persons from a wheelchair, and then allow the overall device width to be reduced for passage through narrow doorways or other passageways. The device also employs a lifting mechanism which can be adjusted by means of a hydraulic jack over a wide range of positions to facilitate lifting of individuals from a prone position on the floor to a standing position. The lifting mechanism includes a pair of individually adjustable generally L-shaped lifting yoke arms that can be adjusted both vertically and angularly to accommodate individuals with posture conditions and provide selective weight bearing alleviation. A special full body harness is employed with the device which has long thigh wraps and a wide lumbar belt for widely distributing lifting pressure and reducing the risk of injury. PA1 b.) U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,025, to Bennett et al., teaches a seating device for aged, infirm and handicapped persons and includes a passive, pivotably mounted, energy storage device laterally disposed below a seat base, and a parallelogram linkage between the seat base and a chair seat for controlling elevation and tilting motion of the seat. A lever which can be coupled at selectable points along an arc about the pivot point of the energy storage device exerts torque on the parallelogram linkage to oppose downward movement and aid upward movement. By varying the position of engagement of the energy storage device to the lever, the force exerted can be adjusted to the weight of the user.
Neither of the patented devices, nor known commercial devices offer the versatility and portability of the lifting device of the present invention. The manner by which the instant invention meets and satisfies the requirements of the elderly or physically challenged will become more apparent in the description which follows, particularly when read in conjuction with the accompanying drawings.